


Matchmaker

by K_K_TiBal



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Castiel and Charlie are Friends, Fluff, Gay solidarity, High School, M/M, Matchmaking, Misunderstandings, Pining, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-27 20:10:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17773451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/K_K_TiBal/pseuds/K_K_TiBal
Summary: Every year for Valentine's Day, Castiel's high school offers a matchmaking fundraiser service that tells each person which student they're most compatible with.Heterosexual results only, of course.Enter: Charlie Bradbury with a brilliant idea to switch names on their Matchmaker quiz so that they'll both get the result they want.Nothing could possibly go wrong.





	Matchmaker

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Valentine's Day!!!  
> As always, you can also find me over at [thebloggerbloggerfun](http://thebloggerbloggerfun.tumblr.com) on Tumblr :)

“So… are you planning on buying  _ your  _ set of Matchmaker results?” 

Castiel looked up from his book at Charlie, who was smiling at him from across the lunch table with just a touch too much innocence. 

“Am I going to pay two dollars for an arbitrary quiz to tell me which girl it has randomly selected for me to be the most compatible with? No,” Castiel said, making note of his page number, as Charlie was probably going to make a big deal out of this.

“ _ Booooo _ .” Charlie shook a ‘thumbs down’ gesture in front of his face as she popped a carrot into her mouth. “Don’t be such a drag, dude. It’ll be fun! No one takes the results seriously anyway.”

Castiel raised an eyebrow. 

“Last year at least three couples broke up after seeing their results on Valentine's Day. People do take it ridiculously seriously and I don’t want to be a part of that mayhem.” 

The creators of the Matchmaker service were geniuses, he had to admit.  A high school full of raging hormones and desire for attention was the perfect breeding ground for this kind of scheme. Each student would take a personality quiz, and then for two dollars, they’d let you know the number one student their computer deemed you most compatible with.

And nothing could go wrong with  _ that _ .

Castiel cleared his throat pointedly and flipped the page. “Besides… they only show heterosexual results. And, uh, neither of us are interested in that data, so I’m not sure why you’re being so insistent about it.”

If Castiel thought that was going to change her mind, he was wildly mistaken. 

“Oh, don’t worry, friend. We wouldn’t get heterosexual results. Not with  _ my _ plan.” Charlie wiggled her eyebrows at him, like she expected him to read her mind. “If you get my drift.”

Castiel blinked.

“You’ve lost me.” 

“ _ Well _ , what if by some  _ tragic accident _ the names on our quizzes got switched?” Charlie smiled deviously. “That would mean that  _ I _ would get matched with a girl and  _ you _ would get matched with a dude.”

Castiel frowned, only half understanding what she was hinting at.

“But... my results would have to be under your name, and vice versa.”

Charlie leaned over the table and tapped him on the nose.

“So? No one would be the wiser,” she said with a wink. “It’s the perfect plan. We never have to tell anyone.”

Oh. 

Then - that might change things. 

A little - not a lot. The entire Matchmaker system was still completely ridiculous and it wasn’t like the results would  _ mean _ anything. 

But… it might be fun to discreetly see who he was “compatible” with, even if it was all made up anyway - not to mention it would feel nice to cheat such an outdated system. 

No.

No, he really didn’t need that. 

All of this was completely  _ stupid.  _

“I’ll even pay for your results, too.” Charlie looked at him with wide eyes. “Just switch names with me. Gay solidarity, dude.”

Castiel rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help but smile. 

“Alright, fine, I’ll switch names with you. For the... ‘gay solidarity’.” Castiel closed up his book when he heard the bell ring. “But I don’t need my results…. I mean - your results.”

Charlie pumped her fist.

“Yessss! Best. Valentine’s Day. Ever.” 

***

The quiz was to be taken in homeroom, a week before Valentine’s Day arrived, and then there would be a table set up in the lunchroom where you could go to put your name down as someone who wanted to pay for the results that would be handed out later. 

So complicated for such a pointless thing. 

“Hey - hey, Cas.”

Castiel felt a tap on his shoulder as their teacher began passing out the quiz down the rows in his homeroom. 

He turned - and melted. 

Just as he usually did when Dean Winchester smiled at him. 

“Hey, can I borrow a pencil?” Dean turned his smile into a dramatic wince. “I forgot one again.”

Castiel let out an amused sigh as he reached into his bag to dig out a pencil.

Dean had moved into town at the beginning of this year, and had proceeded to make homeroom the highlight of Castiel’s day, despite it being the most boring class. He was nice, funny, and was easy to talk to. 

It also didn’t help that he was also incredibly handsome, and on more than one occasion Castiel found himself relating to the groups of girls that would hold their breath as Dean walked past them. 

“I’ve started carrying extra around with me just for this inevitability,” Castiel said in a teasing tone, and pulled out the pencil. 

Dean plucked the pencil from his grasp with another award-winning smile.

“My hero.” Dean twirled the pencil in his hand, blissfully unaware of the effect those two words had had on Castiel’s poor heart. “So, Benny was explaining this quiz thing to me last period. Is it pretty accurate?”

Oh, right. Dean had never had to experience the mayhem that was the Matchmaker quiz. 

“I wouldn’t know,” Castiel said, with a long breath out. “I’ve never purchased the results, but I’m sure it’s just a cash grab with randomized matches.”

“That’s super pessimistic of you,” Dean said, and lifted the quiz up once it was dropped on his desk. “I, on the other hand, fully expect this to tell me my soulmate and will accept no other theory.” 

Castiel squinted at him, studying the serious face Dean was now making, and only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw a hidden smile at the corner of his lips. 

“You’re joking,” Castiel said. “Good. I really didn’t want to be the one to ruin your whole world perspective.” 

Dean snorted. 

“Yeah, dude. I know this is all bullshit. Is that gonna stop me from asking out my top match? No.”

Castiel blanched and had to take a moment to make sure he’d heard correctly. 

“W-why?” Castiel asked. The entire idea seemed so ridiculous to him - why would anyone want to act on a totally random pairing?

Dean just shrugged, his gaze already focused on the first question on the quiz. 

“It’s fun to try new things. You should try it, too. You never know what could happen.”

Castiel frowned, squinting at Dean once more. 

Did Dean not know?

It wasn’t like Castiel was being sneaky about his sexuality - he’d been out for a while now, though he also didn’t do much to advertise that fact. He was who he was, and he was fine with that - he just didn’t like to go out of his way and out himself in every conversation.

People either figured it out, or they didn’t.

“I’ll pass,” Castiel murmured, and turned back around to look over his own quiz, his heart sinking just a little bit. 

“Alright, but don’t be jealous when I get a hot date.”

Castiel grimaced, glad Dean could no longer see. 

If he did end up jealous, it wouldn’t be over the girl. 

_ The best thing you have going is: _

 

  * __Incredible intelligence__


  * _Gut splitting humor_


  * _Amazing honesty_


  * _Super looks_


  * _Compassionate caring_


  * _Exceptional enthusiasm_



 

Compassionate caring? That didn’t even make sense grammatically - it was just two adjectives smashed together.  _ And _ “gut splitting” should have had a hyphen in there. Gut-splitting. Though, he supposed this was a perfect example of  _ exactly  _ how much effort the Matchmaker service actually put into this whole thing. Castiel rolled his eyes and circled the first one, seeing as he had just spent a good amount of time picking apart the question’s grammar. Not that it mattered. 

_ Your favorite milkshake is: _

 

  * __Chocolate__


  * _Strawberry_


  * _Vanilla_



 

Castiel had to stop himself from groaning as he finished up the quiz, each question more arbitrary than the last. 

Soulmate finder, indeed. 

Once the very last question had been answered, Castiel’s pencil hovered over the blank space next to the Name. He hesitated for just a moment longer before writing  _ Charlene Bradbury.  _

And the deed was done. 

***

“I’m so excited. I know it’s dumb, but we cheated the system and it feels  _ so  _ great.” Charlie plopped down next to Castiel at the lunch table. “Just think: soon I’m gonna know which girl I’m most compatible with.” 

Charlie let out a dreamy sigh and reached into her pocket. 

“That reminds me. Here.” She passed him two dollar bills. “You’ll need to go buy your results for me - they won’t let me buy someone else’s.”

Castiel set down his fork, still full of the salad he’d packed for lunch, and frowned as he took the bills from her hands. 

“Alright. Fine. Watch my stuff.”

Charlie saluted as he stood up. 

“Scout’s honor.”

Castiel shoved the two dollars into his back pocket as he made his way to the crowded table set up against one of the lunchroom walls. Students were standing in some sort of a line - but definitely looked more like a blob - while the student council took the money and wrote down names on a big checklist. 

What a waste of his lunchtime. 

Castiel tapped his foot as he waited for the line to move forward. 

“I thought you weren’t gonna buy your results, huh?” 

Castiel jumped at the sound of Dean’s voice, turning to see him with the biggest shit-eating grin on his face. 

“Oh, I - uh, this - “

Castiel felt heat crawl up neck and settle into his cheeks. Should he just explain? Tell him that he and Charlie had switched to get a match that wasn’t heterosexual?

He could… but he didn’t know Dean  _ that _ well - didn’t know how he’d react to that information. 

As dumb as it was, Castiel wasn’t ready to risk having to let go of that homeroom charm he got every day. 

“I… guess you inspired me,” Castiel mumbled, forcing a smile. “No promises though. I’m just curious.”

“Who isn’t?” Dean said, taking a step forward as the line moved up. “Worst comes to worst - it’s just two dollars, you know?”

Castiel nodded, Charlie’s money heavy in his pocket. 

“Who are you hoping to get?” Dean asked, with a playful nudge. 

_ You.  _

Castiel bit his lip to keep himself from saying it out loud and shrugged his shoulders noncommittally. 

“I still don’t think the results mean anything. So, it doesn’t matter.”

“You know,  _ I _ think that you  _ do _ care - ‘cause otherwise you wouldn’t be so against it.” Dean was pointing at him with a knowing look, and Castiel frowned. 

Clearly, he was right. Castiel did care. He wanted Dean to be his match - but he wasn’t buying his  _ real  _ results. Even if he did, they’d just disappoint him when he got someone who wasn’t Dean - which was just a little bit pathetic.

If he never knew the results, he could pretend it was Dean. 

Castiel only hummed in answer, and stepped up to the table when the attendant ushered him forward. 

“Castiel Novak,” he said and handed over Charlie’s money. 

The results were paid for - all that was left to do was wait until Valentine’s Day. 

“See you in homeroom, Cas!”

Castiel waved and walked back over to his table, not waiting for Dean to pay for his own results. 

***

Valentine's Day arrived a lot faster than Castiel had really prepared for. 

He spent the entire seven days imagining the Great Matchmaker writing down Dean’s name next to his own by some miracle, and Dean opening his results and looking at him with the biggest smile on his face, like  _ Wow! Can you believe, Cas? Now I get to ask you on a date! _

And now the day had finally come, and they were both about to open results that were just going to disappoint Castiel. 

“Your Matchmaker results are in,” Ms. Mills said, holding up a few envelopes, each with a name written on the front. “Don’t be weird about them, okay kids? No stalking allowed. No means no - all that fun stuff. Got it?”

“Got it!” 

Ms. Mills nodded and began passing out the results to excited students. 

A letter was dropped onto Castiel’s desk with his name on it - Charlie’s results. 

She’d told him to text her a picture of the paper as soon as he possibly could, but even seeing a letter with his name on it made his heart beat a little faster. 

There was no  _ possible _ way Dean’s name would be on it - he had to get a grip. This was Charlie’s test and it would have results for Charlie inside. 

Nothing exciting for him. 

Castiel carefully tore the envelope open and unfolded the paper inside of it, reading the match it contained. 

_ Castiel Novak _

_ Dorothy Baum _

_ 89% Compatibility _

A small smile crawled over his lips as he read the results again. Charlie was going to  _ love _ that, for sure. He’d heard her talk about how cool Dorothy was on more than one occasion - maybe this would finally give her the push to go and talk to her. 

Quickly, before Ms. Mills could see, Castiel took out his phone and snapped a picture, sending it to Charlie and tucking the phone away again. 

“Ah, man.” 

Castiel glanced over his shoulder to see Dean staring at his opened paper with a disappointed frown. 

Just as Castiel predicted. 

As much as Dean had talked up how he’d be okay with anyone he was matched with, Castiel knew there was just too much expectation to be completely happy with the results. 

“Not who you expected?” Castiel said, just a little smug. “Remember, you  _ said _ you’d ask her out - no matter what. I never thought you’d be one to judge looks, but -”

“It’s not  _ that _ ,” Dean said, shooting him a look. “It would just be a dick move for me to ask out a lesbian.”

Castiel frowned and cocked his head to the side. 

“... what?” 

“Yeah.” Dean sighed loudly and tapped his fingers on the table. “Charlie  _ is _ a lesbian, right? Bradbury?” 

Castiel’s heart stopped beating - how could it beat, when he was now faced with the reality of Dean being his  _ actual match.  _ The quiz he’d taken under Charlie’s name - it had matched him with none other than Dean Winchester. 

“Um. Y-yes. She is,” he found himself saying. That was fine - Charlie was more vocal about her sexuality than he was, she wouldn’t mind him saying.

“Well…” Dean shrugged his shoulders and folded the paper back up. “Guess this means we’d be awesome friends, then - with a ninety-eight percent compatibility. I’m cool with that.” 

_ Ninety-eight percent compatibility? _

Castiel took a steadying breath.

He wasn’t wrong, of course. Dean and Charlie probably  _ would _ be great friends, but that name - that was  _ him.  _ Castiel. Out of the entire school, the quiz had decided that he and Dean were the best matches for each other.

Should he - should he say something? 

Should he tell Dean? 

“Who’d you get?” Dean asked, leaning over to get a look at Castiel’s paper. 

“Oh, uh…” Castiel licked his lips and showed him the paper. “Dorothy Baum.”

“Hey, nice!” Dean rested a hand on his shoulder and shook it. “She’s in my English class and she’s pretty cool. You should definitely ask her out.”

Castiel only hummed neutrally as he folded up the paper and tucked it into his backpack. 

“You want me to introduce you?” Dean asked. 

“I think I’ll be okay. Thank you, though.” 

Dean shrugged his shoulders. 

“Suit yourself. Oh, by the way...” Castiel watched Dean rummage around in his backpack and pull out a group of white pencils with pink hearts printed on them, tied together with a red ribbon. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Cas.” 

Castiel slowly reached for the pencils, allowing himself to smile. 

“These are for me?”

“Well, yeah.” Dean handed them over and grinned. “And me, probably. Because I’m probably gonna keep asking you for pencils when I forget mine.”

Castiel’s fingers tingled where he gripped the gift; a pleasant static that ran up his arm and woke the butterflies in his stomach. 

“Thank you, Dean. I’m sorry - I don’t have -” 

“Don’t worry about it.” Dean waved a hand dismissively. “Thanks for letting me bug you all year.” 

Castiel held onto the pencils tightly. 

“It was my pleasure, Dean.”

***

“ _ So. _ ”

Charlie dropped down next to Castiel at their usual lunch table, and Castiel might not have even noticed if she hadn’t said anything.

His mind was still reeling from the match and the gift from earlier in the day. None of it  _ meant _ anything, of course. The results were most likely randomized, and the pencils were just a nice gesture from someone who borrowed a lot of pencils.

Absolutely zero meaning to be taken away from them whatsoever. 

“So, what?” Castiel asked, taking a bite out of his apple as a distraction. 

“Guess who just came up to me while I was in the lunch line?”

Castiel stared at her as he chewed, waiting for her to just tell him. 

“Dean Winchester,” she said pointedly. “That guy from your homeroom you talk about all of the time. He told me he got me as a match for the Matchmaker thing, and wanted to introduce himself as a potential friend.”

Castiel nearly choked on his apple. 

“You - you didn’t tell him, right?” he managed, his heart sinking in his chest. 

Dean couldn’t ever  _ know.  _

“Of course not,” Charlie said. “But… I think  _ you  _ should tell him.”

Castiel shook his head emphatically. 

“No. Definitely not. Out of the question.”

“Why not? He’s a pretty good guy from what I can tell. Besides. You  _ liiiiike  _ him.”

That blush - the one that had been stubbornly present all through this Valentine’s Day - was back with a vengeance. 

“I know,” he admitted, and his shoulders slumped. “But if I tell him, it’ll make things weird. What if he doesn’t talk to me again? I mean… what about you? Would you want to tell Dorothy?”

“Oh, I already did. Right before lunch,” she said nonchalantly. 

“ _ What?” _

“Yeah, and guess what?” Charlie winked at him. “We’re seeing a movie tonight.”

Castiel’s mouth fell open. 

Really? That easily?

Charlie had to be the  _ luckiest _ lesbian in the entire world for her way around the system to actually work.

“I’m just saying,” Charlie continued casually, “worked for me.”

There was an unsaid  _ ‘could work for you, too’. _

Castiel, however, was not that lucky.

He bit into his apple again, sadly this time. 

***

The school day was over. 

Castiel could finally escape prison of red, pink, and white and take a deep breath out in the fresh air - far away from Dean Winchester. He could use some space to clear his head. 

“Hey, Cas!”

Castiel swallowed as he turned around and saw Dean jogging towards him, and that damn smile that made him melt was still on his face. 

“Um,” he said, gripping the straps of his backpack a little tighter to ground himself as a million different scenarios ran through his head. 

Dean had found out and was coming to yell at him for ruining his results. 

Dean had found out and was coming to sweep him up in his arms and then kiss him in a very low dip. 

Dean was going to demand his pencils back because he’d made a mistake and they were for someone else. 

Dean was yelling for a completely different Cas, who was just in front of Castiel and he just hadn’t noticed.

When Dean finally caught up to him, Castiel stared back at him like a deer-in-headlights, waiting to see which scenario was true. 

“Hello, Dean,” he managed. 

“Hey.” Dean’s smile grew wider. “You walk home, right?”

Castiel tilted his head to the side. 

“I do.”

Dean pulled out a set of car keys. 

“Want a ride?”

***

That was how Castiel Novak found himself in the passenger seat of Dean Winchester’s car, nearly having a heart attack because he was  _ in Dean Winchester’s car.  _

Dean was calm and collected, sitting there in his brown leather jacket, with one arm up against the window and the other easily gripping the wheel in front of him. 

He was perfect. 

And Castiel was a ball of nerves in a polo. 

“Man, I really have the worst luck in the world, right?” Dean mused, casually tapping his fingers on the steering wheel in time to Castiel’s rapidly racing heart. “Charlie seems pretty great, actually, but she did confirm that she’s super gay, so friendship it is.”

“Oh,” Castiel said, swallowing. “That’s… nice. Oh, turn here.”

“Yeah, kind of is.” Dean chuckled to himself as he turned. “I really am okay with it. Honestly… I was kind of hoping to be matched to a dude, anyway.”

Castiel’s eyes widened, and he forced himself to replay what he’d just heard.

That part was real, right? That had happened and wasn’t a part of one of his fantasies?

“Like, don’t get me wrong, I like girls too, but I haven’t ever been on a date with a dude before and I was hoping this would help me out.” Dean shrugged, like he was only mildly put out about it. 

Meanwhile, Castiel was still reeling. 

Dean had just come out to him. 

Dean was interested in guys. 

“Dean… that Matchmaker service - it only gives you heterosexual results,” Castiel found himself saying, his compulsive need to correct wrong information still apparently strong even under this kind of pressure. “You were only ever going to get a girl for a match.”

“What?” Dean glanced at him when they pulled up to a stoplight. “That’s bullshit.”

“You - you think so?”

“Well, yeah!” Dean frowned and started to use his free hand to gesture. “Not everyone taking that dumb quiz is gonna be straight. It’s stupid to have something like this that’s only fun for the straight people. It’s super not cool to exclude a whole bunch of students, you know?”

“I - I agree,” Castiel said, something akin to hope or maybe awe beginning to bloom in his chest. 

Should he - should he say something, too?

Castiel’s heart rate spiked again at the possibility of following in Dean’s footsteps. 

This wouldn’t be his first time coming out - not by a long shot - but it didn’t feel like it ever got any easier. 

This was Dean, though. 

Dean understood. 

“Yeah?” Dean said, raising a curious eyebrow at him. 

“Y - yes. I agree. I also… would have prefered... male results.” Castiel stared down at his hands intently, color rising to his cheeks once more at the admission. “Because I’m… interested in guys. Just guys.”

“Well, hey!” Castiel peeked back up at Dean, who had his signature smile on again. “That makes two of us into guys, then.” His smile fell a little bit. “Oh shit, sorry for pushing that Dorothy thing on you, then. I didn’t realize you weren’t interested. I totally wouldn’t have - oh, hey… if you only like dudes, why buy your Matchmaker results at all?”

Well, that was the big question, wasn’t it? This is what could really make things take a turn for the worse. 

“I...” Castiel hesitated. 

This was the part he was most nervous to admit. 

What if Dean thought he was manipulating him? What if he was even more upset that it was Castiel instead of Charlie? 

No, it would be fine. 

Nothing about Dean had felt like he’d be anything other than understanding. 

“I... didn’t. Buy mine,” Castiel said after a deep breath. “A friend and I - we wrote each other’s names on our quiz so that we would get the result we wanted. Well, it was mainly for her. I didn’t plan on finding out who my match was.”

“Huh.” Dean clicked his tongue. “That’s kind of genius, actually. Wish I’d thought of it. Do I turn here?”

“Next right.”

A moment of silence fell between them while Dean navigated. 

“So, who’d you switch with?” Dean asked curiously. “If I can ask.”

Castiel inhaled. 

Now or never.

“Charlie.”

Castiel saw Dean’s eyes widen, and in just a few moments he’d pulled them over on the side of the road, which did not help Castiel’s apparent rapid heart condition. 

Dean put the car in park and turned in his seat, eyebrows raised. 

“Bradbury?” he asked.

Castiel could only nod. 

“So…  _ my  _ match was actually…”

He paused. 

“Me,” Castiel filled in, his voice barely above a whisper.

Castiel wasn’t sure what he expected to happen next, but for some reason the wide smile that split Dean’s face came as a complete shock. 

“ _ Really _ ?” Dean said. “I matched with  _ you?” _

“Uh, yes. I was Charlie Bradbury,” Castiel repeated, still stunned by the conversation they were having. He pinched himself discreetly, just in case. 

It hurt. 

“Well, I gotta say -  _ much  _ more excited about my match now,” Dean said with a wink. 

Castiel felt that wink steal all of the breath from his lungs. 

“You - you are?”

“Hell yeah.” His smile faltered. “Uh, what about you? How do you feel about it?”

“Me? I…” Castiel felt his entire face turn red. He screwed up his courage, and just said it. “I didn’t want anyone else.”

Dean face might as well have been glowing. 

“Hey, Cas?”

“Yes, Dean?”

“What do you say I take you home a little later, and we go and get ice cream instead?” 

Castiel looked over at Dean, beaming at him in the front seat of his car, and couldn’t believe just a few hours ago he’d been mourning the fact that Dean could never know anything about the Valentine's Day switch. 

“I would like that very much, Dean.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Anyone else's high school do something similar? 'Cause mine did and it was WILD.


End file.
